It is common in the oil and gas industry to treat oil and gas wells and pipelines with heated liquids such as water and oil. For example, one such application is to treat the tubulars of an oil and gas well with heated oil to remove any build up of paraffins along the tubulars that precipitate from the oil stream that is normally pumped therethrough.
In the past the treatment liquid has been heated with a heat exchanger employing an open flame heat source. However, an open flame at the well site poses a substantial risk of explosion and uncontrolled fire, which can destroy the investment in the rig and injure or even cost the lives of the well operators. Current U.S. government safety regulations provide that the open flame heating of the treatment liquid cannot take place within the immediate vicinity of the well. While safety concerns are of overriding importance, compliance with the no open-flame regulations requires additional time and expense to conduct the heated liquid well treatment.
Thus, there has been a long felt need for a safer apparatus and method of heating a treatment liquid for injecting into the tubulars of oil and gas wells and pipelines without using an open flame heat source in the vicinity of the treatment location.